Also, the journalist asked about the right of Russia to annex Crimea and Salvini said that there was "a referendum". However, the journalist noted that it was fake, Salvini said:

"That is your point of view. . . . There was a referendum, and 90 percent of the people voted for the return of Crimea to the Russian Federation… Compare it to the fake revolution in Ukraine, which was a pseudo-revolution funded by foreign powers — similar to the Arab Spring revolutions".